A strip for the formation of handles or labels for fruit and vegetable product bags, such as mesh bags, the strip having a linear succession of handles, or labels where appropriate, joined without interruption to the immediately preceding and to the immediately following one, a central portion and two opposite ends being distinguished in each of them, which together with those of the immediately preceding and immediately following handles or labels determine respective joining areas, each handle or label provided in the transition area between each end and its corresponding central portion with at least one recess or depression at its edges, the inner contour of which is made up of a curved or mixed curve line devoid of angles and without inflexion points.
|
1. A strip for the formation of handles or labels for fruit and vegetable product bags, the strip comprising a linear succession of handles or labels joined without interruption, each handle or label comprising a central portion and two opposite ends, each opposite end of shorter length than the central portion, two opposite ends of two successive handles or labels forming a joining area to be cut along an imaginary transverse cut line to separate the two successive handles or labels from the strip, wherein each handle or label comprises a transition area between each opposite end and the central portion, the transition area comprising on each side an edge that defines at least one recess or depression that narrows the strip relative to a width of the central portion immediately preceding the transition area and relative to a width of the opposite end immediately following the transition area, an inner contour of the at least one recess or depression is made up of a curved or a plurality of curved lines devoid of angles and inflexion points.
11. A strip for the formation of handles or labels-for fruit and vegetable product bags, the strip comprising:
a succession of handles or labels extending in a longitudinal direction, each handle or label comprising a central portion joined to a successive handle or label by a joint area that, when cut along an imaginary line transverse to the longitudinal direction separates the joint area into two parts, each part forming an end of a corresponding handle or label;
wherein each central portion, an immediately preceding joint area and an immediately succeeding joint area define a symmetrical structure with respect to a centerline of the central portion extending transverse to the longitudinal direction;
wherein each joint area is shorter in length along the longitudinal direction than an immediately succeeding central portion;
wherein each joint area is attached to the immediately succeeding central portion by a transition area, each transition area having a width measured orthogonally to the longitudinal direction that is smaller than a width of the central portion measured orthogonally to the longitudinal direction and that is smaller than a width of the joint area measured orthogonally to the longitudinal direction so that the transition area defines a reduced neck between the central portion and the joint area.
2. The strip according to
3. The strip according to
4. The strip according to
5. The strip according to
6. The strip according to
7. The strip according to
line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="lead"?>D=(1.5รท4)d. line-formulae description="In-line Formulae" end="tail"?> 9. The strip according to
10. The strip according to
12. The strip according to
13. The strip according to
|
This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/ES2011/070163, filed on Mar. 10, 2011, which claims priority from Spanish Patent Application No. 201030323, filed on Apr. 9, 2010, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The invention relates to a continuous strip from which successive longitudinal portions especially adapted to be joined, preferably at their two ends, to respective closed constricted ends of a fruit and vegetable product bag to serve as a handle or label are obtained.
Patent EP 1988027 discloses a mesh bag formed from a longitudinal portion of tubular mesh the closed constricted ends of which are joined by means of an oblong and flexible element which acts as a handle. These oblong elements which act as a handle are conventionally obtained by transversely cutting a respective continuous strip. The width of each oblong element must be sufficient so that its ends can be folded along the side edges thereof to tightly fit around or surround the corresponding end of the tubular mesh when the operation for joining it to the latter is carried out, for example, by stapling or by welding.
A drawback of this operation is that the deformation made in the ends of the oblong element, in this case the handle, is transmitted to and affects the central portion of the handle, altering its practical width and altering the comfort of the user when grasping the bag such that it is suspended for transport. The deformation of the handle can also make reading the information printed on the handle difficult, where applicable.
A continuous strip for the formation of handles to resolve this drawback is therefore an objective of the present invention.
In addition, it has been observed that the joint between the oblong element and the mesh, especially when they are joined by heat-welding, has a critical area where the joint begins to break by tearing of the handle, when the weld is subjected to a stress that is too great. This critical area is located in each of the fold lines around which the side edges of the oblong element are folded, in the area of its joining with the mesh.
Another objective of the invention is to disclose a continuous strip from which handles can be obtained the ends of which are configured such that when they are joined by heat-welding to the mesh, they give rise to stronger joints and therefore withstand higher tensile stresses.
Another variant of the bag described in EP 1988027 incorporates two oblong elements, both joined to the two closed ends of the longitudinal portion of tubular mesh, one of which acts as a handle and the other as a label. Taking into account this embodiment variant, the invention is also aimed at providing a continuous strip from which labels can be obtained the ends of which are configured such that they can be joined by heat-welding together with and in a manner juxtaposed to the ends of a handle also joined by heat-welding at the ends of a tubular mesh for the formation of a bag according to this other variant described.
The solution for the strip object of the invention is applicable for obtaining both handles and labels. The strip comprises a linear succession of handles, or labels where appropriate, joined without interruption to the immediately preceding and to the immediately following one, a central portion and two opposite ends of shorter length than the central portion being distinguished in each of them, which together with the ends of the immediately preceding and immediately following handles or labels determine respective joining areas where the strip is to be cut along respective imaginary transverse cut lines to separate a handle or label from the strip.
The strip is essentially characterised in that in the transition area between each end and its corresponding central portion, each handle or label is provided with at least one recess or depression at its edges, the inner contour of which is made up of a curved or mixed curve line devoid of angles and without inflexion points.
According to another feature of the invention, the line which makes up the contour of the recess comprises a curved sector of constant radius greater than or equal to 6 mm which reaches or forms the bottom of the recess in the area going towards the end of the handle or label.
In a variant of the invention, the line which makes up the contour of said recesses joins the corresponding edge of the end of the handle or label by means of a vertex in a sharp angular form. The invention also contemplates the aforementioned vertex being bevelled or rounded.
According to another feature of the invention, the line which makes up the contour of the recesses comprises a first sector, which begins at the edge of the end of the handle or label, that is straight or has a tangent which follows a direction essentially transverse to the strip. In a variant of the invention, said first sector merges with the curved sector of constant radius which reaches or forms the bottom of the recess.
According to another feature of the invention, the ends of each handle or label comprise a symmetrical strip portion with respect to the longitudinal axis of the strip of constant width and of a length (s) comprised between 10 and 20 mm.
The variants in which the maximum width (D) of the ends of each handle or label and the minimum width (d) of the joining necks follow the ratio 1.5d≦D≦4d are of special interest.
It is envisaged that the recesses can all be equal or different, and according to a variant of the invention, that each joining area is of symmetrical mirror configuration with respect to the longitudinal axis of the strip and the separating imaginary transverse cut line, the notches also being in symmetrical mirror arrangement with respect to the longitudinal axis of the strip and the imaginary transverse cut line. In the event that all the recesses are equal, the embodiment in which the transition area between each end and its corresponding central portion, each handle or label is provided with a single recess or depression at both of its edges, the pair of recesses symmetrically arranged on either side of the strip determining respective necks in the strip of width comprised between 12 and 24 mm, is worth pointing out.
In the context of the present invention, it is understood that the necks form the narrowest portions of the strip.
The strip 1 of
In the example of
In the example of
The differences between the strips 1 of
In both cases, a long central portion 13 and two short opposite ends 14, as shown in
While in the case of the handle 2b the total length is optimal for it to act as a handle of a bag, in the case of the label 2a depicted by way of example in
In a practical embodiment, the total length of the handle 2b is comprised between 120 and 300 mm, preferably being 215 mm, whereas the total length of the label 2a is comprised between 100 and 220 mm, preferably being 160 mm.
In order to avoid deformations in its central portion 13 and to ensure the strength of its joint with the mesh 7, it can be seen that in the transition area between each end 14 and its corresponding central portion 13, each handle 2b or label 2a is provided with a merging neck formed by a pair of recesses 6a, 6b; 6c, 6d in the edges of the strip 1, the inner contour of each recess being made up of a continuous and concave line, devoid of angles and inflexion points.
It can be observed in
It is observed in
Naturally, alternative variants are contemplated in which said edge can be slightly bevelled or rounded, being preferable in this latter case that the radius of curvature is less than 3 mm so that when the side edges of the end 14 of the handle 2b or label are folded over the mesh as explained in detail below, they cover the mesh to a greater extent. Providing the vertex 15 with bevelling or rounding is advantageous in the manufacture of a bag such as that described in EP 1988027, specifically the variant which incorporates two oblong elements, obtained from two strips according to the present invention, one of which acts as a handle and the other as a label. Portions of said elements must be placed against one another during the manufacture of the bag for joining them to the mesh, precisely the portions provided with the recesses 6a to 6d being those that are mutually placed against one another. The presence of a vertex 15 in a sharp angular form in this part of any one of the strips could cause both strips to snag and hinder the progress or movement of one strip with respect to the other during this operation.
It is seen in the detail of
It is noted that the mere provision of the recesses 6a, 6b; 6c, 6d in a conventional uniform strip 1 would have deterred the person skilled in the art from applying the solution of the present invention because for bags containing products the weight of which is to be able to be grasped and transported in suspension with a single hand, which determines the minimum width of the strip 1 taking into account the usual materials (based on polythene and polypropylene) and the interest in material saving, a contour provided with angles, or even with a curved sector with a radius unsuitable for certain bags, favours the breaking of the joint between the mesh 7 and the handle 2b because the handle 2b is provided with suitable points for triggering the tear of the handle 2b when the joining thereof with the mesh 7 is subjected to a tensile stress.
Returning to the variants depicted in
In the depicted examples which aim to optimise the material used, each handle 2b or label 2a is provided with a single recess or depression at both of its edges in the transition area between each end 14 and its corresponding central portion 13, and each pair of recesses 6a, 6b; 6c, 6d symmetrically arranged on either side of the strip determines a respective neck in the strip 1 of width d comprised between 12 and 24 mm.
The ends 14 of other variants of handles obtained by transversely cutting respective strips according to other variants of the invention have been depicted in
In the example of
Regarding the process for joining with the ends of the bags in the course of manufacture, the strip 1 is to be handled such that the handles 2b are not separated before they are joined to the ends of the mesh bags, but rather a joining area 4 of the strip 1 is applied on a previously constricted non-end longitudinal portion of the mesh 7, to subsequently join them by any known means, for example by means of melting the materials which make up the mesh 7 and the strip 1, the joint being of sufficient length to transversely cut it along the imaginary cut line 5 and thus separate two closed ends of the mesh each joined to a corresponding end of two consecutive handles 2b.
To correctly form the aforementioned joint, as illustrated in
In the example depicted in
The approximate shape that an end of the handle 2b joined to the mesh 7 finally adopts in a preferred embodiment is depicted in
In order to show the effect caused by the recesses, the shape adopted by the end of a conventional handle 2b joined to the mesh 7 when the strip 1 from which said handle 2b is obtained is not provided with the recesses which characterise the invention has also been depicted in an approximate manner in
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
2437055, | |||
2722368, | |||
6234946, | Nov 05 1997 | Method for cutting strip to produce grips for bag | |
7654024, | Sep 27 2002 | Zebra Technologies Corporation | Separated wristband label assembly |
20080273817, | |||
20080301981, | |||
20090180717, | |||
20120020587, | |||
EP1988027, | |||
EP2001006, | |||
GB1428084, |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Mar 10 2011 | Girnet Internacional, S.L. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Oct 08 2012 | GIRO AMIGO, EZEQUIEL | GIRNET INTERNACIONAL, S L | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 029197 | /0026 |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
Jul 30 2014 | ASPN: Payor Number Assigned. |
Aug 28 2017 | REM: Maintenance Fee Reminder Mailed. |
Feb 12 2018 | EXP: Patent Expired for Failure to Pay Maintenance Fees. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
Jan 14 2017 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Jul 14 2017 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 14 2018 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
Jan 14 2020 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
Jan 14 2021 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Jul 14 2021 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 14 2022 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
Jan 14 2024 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
Jan 14 2025 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Jul 14 2025 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jan 14 2026 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
Jan 14 2028 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |